Santa Clause
by Kuraun Kuraun
Summary: He had been twelve when his Sensei crawled through his living room window with a bag slung over his shoulder like Santa Clause.


**Disclaimer** - I do not own _Naruto_.

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Christmas Eve had strolled around the corner quicker than the Yellow Flash had expected. Then again, it had been so busy for him ever since the middle of September that he hardly realized it was December. First he had been trying to track down Tsunade to teach Rin some more helpful medical techniques, which had been easy considering that the woman had always been interested in Konoha's most gifted medic since her days. Then afterward, he spent all of his free time preparing both Obito and Rin for the Chunin exams and making sure that Kakashi wasn't going to feel invisible in the free time.

The experienced Chunin hadn't laughed with him and Obito when he attempted to make a comedy scene by faking that he was giving him an assignment by writing a twenty-paged essay on what it was to be a Shinobi. Then again, Kakashi never showed any emotion so why would he laugh?

As Minato was passing by the stores with men dressed up as Santa Clause, calling out 'ho, ho, ho' cheerfully, he couldn't help but wonder what his students would be doing for Christmas. Obito was sure to be attending Christmas dinner tomorrow with all of the other Uchihas; he was the least on his mind. Ironically, it was mostly on Rin since Kakashi always isolated himself; the fragile girl wasn't in the best foster home in Konoha, in fact she was in the most horrible one. All of her clothes she had gotten herself using money she'd gotten from missions - often she turned down his offer of taking his pay, claiming that it wouldn't be right to take his pay since he'd done the most work.

Sometimes the thought that forcing her to take the money was very convincing.

At Rin's foster home, they often believed that children who were Shinobi should be able to take care of themselves, which was probably why Rin hardly got as much stuff as the other children in her cabin - truth was even Kakashi had said that the other girls who bunked with her were brats. He'd seen the way they treated Rin - taking advantage of her because she wasn't as stubborn and never put her foot down unless if people were hurting her friends.

Often she forgot to defend herself because she was so busy making sure that Obito and Kakashi didn't fall through the cracks, leaving the rest on her squad to pull her up when she was falling. He'd even seen Kakashi secretly sneak some of his pay into Rin's backpack when she wasn't looking, which was probably why he often traveled behind her.

Sometimes he wondered, what did Christmas feel like for a foster child? How did Rin often feel when she laid on her bed at eight o'clock during the night when she could easily be enjoying ham and opening presents like a normal family? Did she even get anything for Christmas, even if it was just a 'merry Christmas' from someone?

Sometimes he wondered what emotion was really underneath her smile. He'd seen her walking in a single-file line with all of the other foster children before with the people she called 'family' even though they were just children her age that called Rin 'weak' and claim that her parents were still out there, but glad that they had gotten rid of their ugly child.

Kakashi's insults that he hurled at her probably felt nothing compared to the other children's insults.

As he was passing by a store, he saw a man holding out a basket filled with toys calling out, "Make a foster child feel special this Christmas! Donate a toy!"

He couldn't make sure his students got the best Christmas of their lives, but he could make sure that this year's Christmas meant something to them.

Minato stealthed around the Uchiha Grounds, walking as quietly as he could to Obito's house. The Chunin was most likely home, considering that the Uchiha ceremony had been over for hours, and it was two in the morning. He was really only outside at two in the morning because he couldn't be spot trespassing onto Uchiha property, and if he was going to sneak into Rin's cabin room filled with a bunch of girls; he realized that he might as well do it when everyone's sleeping.

Plus it was going to be difficult to give Kakashi his present if he was awake. He just prayed that the Hatake was asleep.

Soon he was in front of Obito's bedroom in the dark hallway.

"Santa Clause?" A small femine voice called out. Startled that someone had seen him, he twirled around and saw a short long black-haired girl standing behind him in the doorway of what seemed to be her room.

"Um...yeah." He lied quickly, then added quickly, "Ho, ho, ho!"

"I thought your hair was grey, and you had a beard." The girl cocked her head to the side. "Have you been loosing weight, Santa?"

His face fell. "...Yeah."

"The Christmas tree is down stairs, why are you up here?"

"I wanted to give everyone's gifts personally." He lied. "You have to go to sleep or you won't get yours, though."

"Can I give you your milk and cookies first?"

"...Sure."

The girl disappeared and reappeared a few seconds later with an empty plate and cup. "That's odd; there were cookies and milk before I went to bed."

"...I was very hungry and thirsty, couldn't help myself." He lied. "Now you have to go to bed so you can fall asleep before I come to your room." He added as he narrowed his eye, "And don't think about pretending to be asleep or I'll pass by your room."

The girl looked alarmed as she ran back into her bedroom, shutting the door behind her.

Minato let out a long sigh as he opened the door to Obito's room quietly and walked in. Obito was snoring loudly, mumbling words as he flipped from one side to the next and back continuously.

"Rin." He murmured, hugging his blanket tighter.

'So that's why I thought Rin was in trouble last over-night mission.' He thought while sweat dropping as he moved closer to the loudly snoring boy. Pulling out a medium-sized box, he placed it beside Obito. The boy flipped over again and cuddled the box.

"Rin! I finally found you!"

Minato scratched the side of his head with another sweat drop. 'And I thought he was strange before.'

After visiting Obito, Minato decided to go to Kakashi's house next to make sure that everyone in Rin's cabin was asleep. It was nearing two-thirty in the morning when he climbed through a window he forced open with his chakra. After entering through the window head first (which was probably not a good idea since he was going to make a racket), he landed on a table, rolled off the table with it tipping over onto one leg before falling back to its normal stance, and landed on the hard wooden floor with a loud 'oof!' followed by a loud thunk.

The man made his next loud racket by leaning back and hitting the same table again, forcing the table to hit the wall loudly before rocking back onto one leg and spilling all of its contents onto the floor: a book about jutsu, pictures, and Kakashi's sword that he carried everywhere which hit him on the head with another loud thunk.

"Ow!" He yelped out softly, rubbing the back of his head to ease the throbbing pain in his neck and back of his head.

Seeing the contents that belonged on the table on the floor, he scrambled to pick them up; pulling out the sword from its case to make sure it wasn't broken, he sighed with relief when he saw it was still in one piece with no scratches.

A kunai came flying from the hallway in front of him, the Jounin jumped to the side to avoid it before pulling out a kunai of his own and throwing it at the other one to deflect it. "It's me, Kakashi!"

The Chunin appeared in front of him in a blink of an eye. He had an annoyed look on his face; he was dressed in a simple pair of black shorts with a black T-shirt, his hand was covering his face. His hair was also messy; instead of straight spiked silver hair he had moppy-spiked hair. "What are you doing here, Sensei?"

His tone was cold like usual, but he could tell that his student was surprised to find him in his house in the middle of the night with a bag slung over his shoulder like Santa Clause.

"I was trying to play secret Santa, but that's ruined because you just had to come out of your room awake."

"It would've worked if you were quieter, Sensei. I was awake anyway." The Chunin mumbled, his hand still clasped over his mouth, cheeks, and the lower part of his nose. The Jounin could see parts of his cheeks were the side of his neck and jaw was, but said nothing so he wouldn't make his short-tempered student anymore annoyed.

"Here," He pulled his scarf off of him and handed it to the Jounin, explaining when his student looked at it puzzlingly, "Turn around and wrap it around your face so you're not covering it all night."

The experienced Chunin glared at him slightly before disappearing in the kitchen for more privacy, reappearing a second later with the scarf wrapped around the parts that his usual mask would cover. The Jounin had to hold back laughter, but failed miserably.

"What's so funny?"

"You look more injured then you were when Rin accidentally kicked you before she healed you!" The Jounin said through laughter before he broke out into a laughing fit.

"That's not funny. I got beaten by a girl."

"She didn't mean to, Kakashi. She had just been mistaken as the princess on that day, remember? She had been quite scared out of her mind, she just thought that the enemy had come back for her."

"She gave me a bloody nose."

"She apologized."

"She wouldn't stop saying 'sorry' for the rest of the way back, she still won't stop apologizing."

"That's Rin for you." Minato paused as he pulled out a medium sized box that was wrapped in green paper and handed it to Kakashi, who looked at it questionably as he took the box. "Merry Christmas."

"Why?"

Minato watched Kakashi flip the box around in his hands, as if feeling for a clue for what was inside. "Can't a Sensei give his student a present for Christmas?"

The boy said nothing as he looked at him with a blank look in his eye.

"Don't worry, it's something you'll find useful and not claim as 'baggage'."

Kakashi's eye softened slightly. "...Thanks."

"My pleasure." The Jounin stood up from his crouched position he'd been in since he handed Kakashi his present. "Now if you'll excuse me, I have a foster home to visit."

"...You're adopting a child?"

He let out a laugh as he ruffled his student's 'moppy' hair. "Very funny, Kakashi. I have another student I haven't visited tonight."

The White Fang's son turned around to cover his face while pulling off the scarf, the boy turned around again with his hand hiding his face as he handed the scarf back to Minato.

"Merry Christmas, Kakashi." He said before disappearing in a swirl of leaves.

He never heard his student say softly before returning back upstairs with his gift, "...Merry Christmas, Sensei."

It was nearing three o'clock in the morning by the time he reached the cabin that Rin slept in with her bratty roommates. Using his chakra to unlock the door, he snuck into the dark, cold cabin room. He looked at all of the other girls who had proper sleeping attire on, snuggled under their covers and sleeping soundlessly (except for the fact that one girl was snoring almost as loudly as Obito).

He felt his heart drop when he saw Rin under just a thin sheet, hugging herself tightly for warmth. Her skin was cold when he touched her thin cheeks, pushing a stand of hair off of her face unconsciously. Pulling out an extra blanket from his backpack he'd been using for his missions (also what he'd been using to carry all of his student's presents), he placed it over Rin, who relaxed under the warmth and stopped hugging herself so tightly.

He pulled out her presents that totaled up to be three, but he'd decided long ago to make it up to Kakashi and Obito by training them extra over the next few weeks. All of her presents were things she needed - a purple comforter to keep herself warm, a purple winter coat to keep her warm, and a book on medical jutsu.

Setting the gifts down on the floor and making sure that her name was attached to each box (since he'd heard from various people that the other girls in her cabin often took things that didn't have their name on them), he wrapped the blanket around her more secure so she'd be warm over night. He stood there for a few more minutes, watching the snow fall freely from the sky, sticking to the ground.

He gently ruffled the girl's hair affectionately. "Merry Christmas, Rin-chan." He whispered softly as he continued to ruffle her hair before disappearing in a swirl of leaves.

The gifts would've meant nothing to a child with parents, and maybe it didn't mean anything as much for Obito because he had parents (then again maybe it did because his parents never paid attention to him, and he was almost raising himself). For Kakashi and Rin, he just hoped it made them feel somewhat more important.

And maybe Rin would feel other children's love for Christmas, even if she had no family to spend it with.


End file.
